


One reason

by AmaliaIR



Series: Drabbles [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, paneville
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 06:52:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13025580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmaliaIR/pseuds/AmaliaIR
Summary: Pansy helps rebuild Hogwarts.





	One reason

Pansy didn’t know why she was there, specially with her new shoes that were already dirty and full of sand on the inside. But if she wanted to continue to live in Britain, she had to attend. 

She stopped for a moment to stare at the impressive remains of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry. How were they ever going to fix this mess?Pansy had never levitated boulders that big, and no one had told her what to do once she got there, so she just started walking around aimlessly, trying to find the less threatening group of people. Professor Mcgonagall was with some Weasleys and Potter putting a stained glass window back together. She couldn’t help but notice how there were less Weasleys than usual. 

Inside, Granger and Lovegood were helping house elves rebuild the great hall’s tables. Everywhere Pansy looked there were groups of Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and Ravenclaws helping, with only a few Slytherins scattered around; the Greengrass sisters, Flint, Pucey, Theo, and strangely, Draco.  
Draco and Narcissa needed to redeem themselves in the eyes of the magical world after Lucius was sent to Azkaban, but Pansy couldn’t bear to be around them as they depressed her endlessly. She suddenly crashed into somebody when she wasn’t looking, and it turned out to be professor Sprout, who looked shocked to see Pansy.

“Miss Parkinson?” she asked awkwardly. 

“I’m here to help!” Pansy almost shouted, defensively. 

The professor looked skeptical of course but she nodded anyway and shoved a large bag compost in Pansy’s arms. "I assume you remember where the greenhouses are.“

It seemed like Pansy didn’t have a choice anymore. 

As soon as she was close enough she could see why the greenhouses needed help. Once full of green life, almost everything was either burnt or crushed under pieces of the castle. The problem was that Pansy had no idea how to care for plants and Sprout was nowhere around.

A head popped in between some torn bushes and Pansy sighed, "Of course." 

Neville Longbottom didn’t even look her way when she arrived. "Find any survivors and re-pot them. We’ll sort them out later." 

Pansy started doing exactly that, and it took about half an hour before she heard him speak again. 

"Parkinson?” he was looking at her like she was the last person he expected to see, which she probably was. 

She didn’t answer, merely stared at him until he went back to work and so did she. By the end of the day there were no more surviving plants left, and she went gome without saying goodbye. 

Pansy came back the next day, wearing a dress she had transfigured into an overall.

“Pile up the bigger pieces of the castle for Mcgonagall to collect.”

Pansy spent the entire day covered in dust while levitating giant rocks.

“Separate the poisonous residues from the non-poisonous ones.”

“How do I know which ones are poisonous?”

That was the first time Pansy spoke to Longbottom and he seemed taken aback for a moment before he sighed. “I’ll help.”

They worked for days on end cleaning and restoring every part of the many greenhouses. Sometimes Sprout was there, but mostly she trusted Longbottom to lead while she helped other teachers. 

They didn’t speak much, especially Pansy who was merely following orders, but she started feeling a strange sense of satisfaction after each passing day. It was as if her work was actually useful and she wasn’t just wasting her time. For the first time in her life Pansy felt like she was doing something meaningful and she was almost sorry that it would end soon.

She stood watching the fanged geraniums she helped plant before leaving when Longbottom walked up to her. Pansy was really tired but apparently the job wasn’t finished.

“Do you want to go to the Three Broomsticks?”

Pansy was used to nodding every time Longbottom spoke, so her head was moving before she even processed the words, but a second later she froze and her eyes went wide. “What?”

Longbottom smiled a little bit and Pansy hated the way her heart skipped a beat. “It’s the last day and we’re all going to celebrate and I thought you might want to come too.”

“Oh.” A dusty bar filled with close to fifty people she never got along with? Pansy could think of hundreds of reasons not to go.

“Sure,” she nodded again. Longbottom reached and plucked a tiny leaf out of Pansy’s hair.

But she could also think of one very good reason to go.


End file.
